Eobeet shelley



(N0 ModeL) R. SHELLEY.

FOLDING CHAIR.

No. 327,901. Patented 001;. 6, 1885,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT SHELLEY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ONVEN J.FLYNN.

FOLDING CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 327,901, dated October6, 1885.

Application filed May 31, 1884.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT SHELLY, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Chairs, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had therein tothe accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to folding chairs; and the novelty consists in theconstruction, arrangement, and adaptation of parts, as will be morefully hereinafter set forth, and specifically pointed out in the claim.

The primary and essential object of this invention is to provide a chairhaving a back which shall be capable of being folded into such compassthat none of the parts shall project beyond the space occupied by themain standards, and which shall occupy no more space than the back-framein packing or in transportation. This has been before attempted, and thedesired result in a manner attained, as in Patent No. 274, 780, of 1883,in which the rear of the seat slides up the backstandard, and the seatwhen folded occupies the space ordinarily occupied by the back or partwhich supports the body of the party in the chair when leaning backward;but in order to do this the back-standards must have a space betweenthem equal to the depth of the seat, and this gives a very imperfect anduncomfortable support as a chair when in use.

I design to provide such a chair as will completely fold upon itself ina similar manner, and which shall havea perfect and comfortablesupporting-back.

My invention is fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings, whichform a part of this specification, and in which- Figure l is aperspective view of my chair as ready for use; Fig. 2, a front View ofthe same folded; and Fig. 3, an edge view of the same in the conditionshown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the chair in an unfoldedor extended position.

Referring to the drawings, in which similar letters of referenceindicate like parts in all the figures, A designates the back-standards,which are provided with a lower crosspiece, a, and with an efficientsupportingback, A. The presence of this latter feature Serial No.133,340. (No model.)

is important, as the importance and novelty rest in the result attainedin that kind of a chair.

B designates the short legs, pivoted to the standards A at b, and havingfront recesses, 12, which receive the cross-bar a when the chair isfolded, and back recesses, N, which receive a rod, d, rigid with thebackstandards.

The seat 0 is pivoted on a rod or pin, a, to the legs B, and its sidebars, 0, are provided with horizontal longitudinal slots 0, whichreceive the rod d. This rod (1 not only serves to strengthen the back ofthe chair, but supports the seat portion when in use, and binds all theparts firmly together when the chair is folded.

The back-standards, as shown, occupy alone all the space that thecomplete chair would when folded, the seat folding within the legs andthe legs within the said back-standards. When the chair is folded, thelegs come snugly between the seat and back-standards, and the recessesI) promptly engage the rod d, to hold the whole compactly together.

When folded, the upper ends of the legs and seat form close junctionwith the lower part of the back A, and the seat slides down on the rod duntil it takes its position parallel with the legs and within the same.

I am aware that seats in other constructions have been made to sliderear downward in connection with the back of a folding chair, as inPatent No. 101,628, of 1870; but such device did not fold within theback-standards, and that construction is not sought to be covered inthis application.

Having thus fully described the invention in its relation to theexisting state of the art, what I claim as new is The folding chairdescribed, consisting of the back-standards A, having back A, rod d, andcross-bar a, the legs B, having recesses b and b, the seat 0, pivoted tothe legs B at c, and having side rails, O, with slots 0, the wholecombined and adapted to serve as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT SHELLEY.

\Vitnesses:

JAMES ONEIL, J OHN OCoNNELL.

